Pakistani doctor – Dr. Baig leads the Polio Eradication Program in Pakistan as the national coordinator. He also served in Nigeria as a technical advisor for the country’s polio eradication initiative before arriving in Pakistan to lead anti-polio efforts. Time magazine praised Dr. Baig’s leadership in Pakistan.
Time editor Jeffrey Kluger highlighted the significant progress made in reducing polio cases in Pakistan since Dr. Baig took office. Kluger also praised Dr. Baig’s efforts in the face of challenges such as extremist attacks on polio workers.
Under his leadership, the government has deployed 400,000 vaccinators and 80,000 security personnel to inoculate more than 90 million children this year alone, and another 24 million will come in a spring vaccination campaign,” added the general editor of the Time.
“Your inclusion in this esteemed list is a testament to his dedication to eradicating polio from Pakistan!” stated the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program on its Instagram profile. The list honors 100 people who are “the most influential in the world of health right now”. It includes scientists, doctors, advocates, educators & policymakers, who are “dedicated to creating tangible change and credible for a healthier life.
In 2019, polio disabled or killed 147 people in Pakistan; Since Baig took office in 2021, case counts have plummeted, with only six children affected in 2023. The goal is to reduce that number to zero by 2026.
Pakistani doctor
The magazine said attacks targeting polio workers between 2012 and 2016 had killed 200 people, but Dr. Baig had “declared that the days of extremists driving out polio workers are over”.Pakistani doctor
Time noted that under his leadership, the government deployed 400,000 vaccinators and 80,000 security personnel to inoculate more than 90 million children in 2024, with another 24 million to be carried out in a spring vaccination campaign.Pakistani doctor
Before going to work in Pakistan, Baig was a technical advisor to Nigeria’s polio eradication effort, which was spectacularly successful: in 2020, the country became the most recent country in the world to be declared polio-free. If Baig has his way, Pakistan will be next,” the magazine predicted. Dr Baig said he was proud of its inclusion and dedicated it to polio workers who worked in difficult conditions to rid the country of the disease.